End
by Ninjasaurus
Summary: After losing against the Elite Four's Lance, a Charizard wakes up from a coma in a hospital bed. His trainer explains what happened during their battle.


Obnoxious beeping assaulted his eardrums, causing his head to throb viciously. A soft groan escaped his lips, and his eyes cracked open reluctantly. The white walls and bright room intensified his massive headache and he quickly shut his eyes again. His entire body ached, and a feeling of nausea washed over him for a brief moment. A familiar scent wafted into his nostrils and again he opened his eyes. He glanced over to the side of the bed he lay on and saw a figure lounging in a chair. When the figure came into focus, he noticed that it was a young girl. She was asleep in the chair – how she could fall asleep in such an uncomfortable piece of furniture he didn't know – and her caramel colored bangs fell over her closed eyes. Her clothes were slightly dirty, and she smelled strongly of the outdoors, but still her familiar vanilla scent made its way to his sensitive nose. There were a few fading bruises on her arms and the hem of her shirt was slightly ripped up. There were dark circles under her eyes, which didn't suit her at all and slightly irritated him, but he knew it was only a result of the lack of sleep she had been receiving in the long months they spent together. Weakly, he reached out and softly laid his claw on her shoulder to waken her.

She stirred and blinked her eyes at him, grogginess quite evident on her features. He smiled at her, trying to reassure her that he was okay. Comprehension settled in and she sat up straight. "Aiden!" she exclaimed, surprised that he was awake. A relieved smile spread across her lips – something he quite enjoyed seeing – and rested her hand softly on his arm. "How are you feeling?" she asked, staring at him fondly.

He gave her a small shrug, but still smiled back. He felt quite sore and tired, but otherwise he felt fine.

"Good," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. "You know," she mumbled, "you've been out for a couple days. I was worried sick, Aiden."

A frown tugged at the corners of his mouth and he stared at her, confused. Her voice had shook, and her red, puffy eyes glossed over with unshed tears. Her bottom lip quivered and she looked ready to burst into tears right then.

She smiled sadly at him and shook her head. "We lost, Aiden. Lance is really strong, stronger than I gave him credit for." Her honey brown eyes stared down at her hands folded in her lap. "It was that Aerodactyl he has that really did the most damage. It took out every last Pokémon I had, and then all I had left was you." Her voice grew soft and quiet, and it shook now just as it had before. "You were gonna die, Aiden... I told him to stop, gave him all the money I had, and I took you here. You were almost completely gone, and I thought I was too late..."

Aiden was silent, only staring at her. He reached out towards her again, but his claw hang suspended in the air when she spoke again. What she said sent eerie chills down his spine.

"They're all dead, Aiden... I couldn't save them, and I almost let you die, too!" The tears she held back spilled free and rolled down her cheeks. Uncontrollable sobs wracked her body and she wrapped her arms around herself, rocking back and forth in the chair. Her haunting chants of 'they're dead, they're all dead' echoed dully in his ears, and his entire body had gone numb. Everyone... A chilling thought crossed his mind, and he looked desperately at his trainer, his green eyes burning with a need to know the fate of one particular poison/ground type.

The sobbing trainer looked up when a deep rumbling sound echoed in the large fire type's throat. She saw the pleading look in his eyes, and she choked on a new sob. Unable to say anything, she simply nodded, covering her mouth with her hands. After she fought up the energy to speak, she said between hiccups, "Yeah, Aiden, even Gabby..." The young girl had to look away when her Pokémon's own eyes filled with tears.

The two sat in complete silence, the only sounds being the girl's uneven breathing pattern and the heart monitor on the opposite side of the hospital bed. That damn beeping was driving the Charizard insane, and he was nearly tempted to rip the cursed machine apart. Faces of his fallen team flashed in his mind, the quirky Nidoqueen he had grown so close to lasting longer than the other Pokémon. Knowing that he would never see her again, never hear her voice, never hold her so close to him again, it made his heart throb and twist inside his chest painfully, and the tears burned his eyes again. He fought them back; he couldn't cry, he was stronger than that. His large claws gripped the sheets tightly, ripping the fragile fabric. A pained cry wrestled out of his chest and he shut his eyes to keep the tears in. Beside him, his trainer wailed loudly and curled into a ball again, crying into her arms.

"I'm sorry, Aiden," she cried. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't, I couldn't save them. I didn't mean to do this to you, I knew about you and Gabby, and I just let her... Oh, God, I'm so sorry!"

Aiden squeezed his eyes shut tighter. His breathing came rapidly, trying so hard to keep from reaching that breaking point that his trainer had already succumbed to.

They sat in that room, one crying and one trying not to, for about an hour. Eventually, the girl's sobs died down to continuous sniffling, and the large Pokémon lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling with hollow eyes, his aching heart reduced to a dull throb. The girl had one arm leaning on the armrest on the chair she sat in, her chin resting in her hand. She stared at the wall, looking but not seeing, in silence.

"I think I'm going to go to Pokémon Tower," she said after a long time. "My mom is on her way to Lavender Town, and she said that she would help pay for the headstones and some candles. You know," she sniffed, her voice void of any emotion, "like a funeral."

Aiden glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye. There was a defeated look on her face, as if she had given up all hope. Perhaps she has. She had fallen silent again, so he returned his gaze to the white ceiling above him. He wondered if Heaven was this white; surely Gabby wouldn't like it too much.

"Would you want to go?"

Aiden turned his head to face her. "Char," he confirmed with a curt nod. Of course he would go to his friends' funerals.

She nodded briskly, ending the conversation. Another heavy silence fell over them. And then she sighed.

"I'm done, Aiden."

He eyed her curiously.

"It's over. I just..." she paused. "I can't do this anymore. I'm not ready for all of this. My team is dead because of me. We weren't ready, and yet I was so convinced that a miracle would happen, that maybe we'd win. The whole Pokémon trainer thing just isn't for me. Creating a new team just seems pointless, and it would hurt too much, watching them grow like you guys did, revisiting places we had traveled to. I just can't do all of that again. I'm done."

Her first Pokémon stared at her in shock, and yet he understood. He wouldn't be able to do it all over again, either. His eyes landed on her bruised body, her dirtied and torn clothes, those ugly circles under her eyes. She didn't deserve all the trouble of training his kind, and she sure as hell didn't deserve the pain she felt now. She'll forever believe this loss against the last Elite Four member was her fault, and the deaths of her team members, her friends, will hang over her head for the rest of her life.

Aiden gently placed his hand on her knee, and when she turned to face him, he showed her that he understood. She drew in a shaky breath, fresh tears forming in her eyes, and she pulled his hand up to her cheek. He cupped her cheek in his hand, which she leaned in to, and she smiled softly. Without another thought, he picked up the tiny human girl and placed her beside him in the bed, let her mold into his side, and wrapped his arms around her securely.

"I love you, Aiden," she sighed, tears sliding down her cheeks and landing on his scaled flesh. They burned slightly, water not being much of a friend to the fire type, but he could deal with pain. He nuzzled his snout in her hair and took a deep breath, smelling past the dirt and grime, and finding the pleasant scent of vanilla. He was reminded of a time when he had won his first Pokémon battle, defeated his first gym leader, and met a silly little Nidoran who brought out a much more outgoing Charmander from his serious nature. His heart lurched at her memory, her bright smile still fresh in his mind, and her silly antics brought a small smile to his face. His arms tightened around the broken trainer, knowing that if it wasn't for her, he would have never met his love. He took in another deep breath, relishing in the memories of sunshine and warmth the girl's scent brought to him, and cherishing every moment he spent with Gabby. Finally, he let go, allowing the tears to fall freely down his own face.

They had reached the end.


End file.
